Rex and Hannah Chronicles Story 43: Myth Conception
by Tim66
Summary: Rex and Hannah head to Greece to search for a missing archeologist. However, they find more than they bargained for.


DISCLAIMER: The characters of Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster are the property of Spelling Productions and were created by Constance M. Burge. The characters of Randolph Carter and all Cthulhu Mythos characters are the property of the estate of H.P. Lovecraft.

 **THE PLACE: ARKHAM, MASSACHUSETTS**

 **THE TIME: JUNE 5** **th** **, 2016**

"More coffee, Hannah?" Staci Clarke asked.

"Once again, you read my mind, Staci," Hannah Webster replied. She was sitting in the booth that she and Rex Buckland usually sat in when they dined at the Burger Bar. Hannah was engrossed on her laptop. _This place has almost become my second office, after my office at home,_ Hannah thought to herself.

"You look busy, Hannah," Staci said, once she had returned with Hannah's coffee refill. "More journalism stuff?"

"Not quite. This is more of a side project." Hannah replied.

Staci looked at Hannah. In the months since she had met Rex and Hannah, the couple had become good friends of hers. Staci had even attended their wedding, last Halloween. At this point, something was telling Staci that Hannah had a lot on her mind. Announcing to her boss that she was going on a break, Staci sat down next to Hannah. "Hannah, if you don't mind me prying, but it looks like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

 _That's not so far from the truth,_ Hannah thought. _How would you feel if you suddenly found out that the whole future of the human race was depending on your actions, and you had no idea what those actions were supposed to be._ Several months before, Randolph Carter had shown Rex and Hannah a possible time line in which the two former Warlocks had never existed. In that time line, the Old Ones had escaped their empty dimension prison and had wiped out all life on Earth. This indicated that Rex and Hannah were destined to play a key role in preventing the Old Ones from escaping their prison. The trouble was that the two former Warlocks had no idea what that role was going to be. For her part in the research, Hannah had decided to focus on more of the strange events that had happened in and around Arkham, hoping to find a lead. Needing to get out of the house and stretch her legs, Hannah had come here to the Burger Bar, where current circumstances had now found her. "Staci..." Hannah began.

"Yes?" Staci said.

"Well, Staci, you're native to Arkham. You've heard the stories of strange events that have happened in this town," Hannah said.

"Yes, but I've never really paid much attention to them," Staci replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Staci, what if I were to tell you that some of those stories were, in fact, true. Strange things have been happening here in Arkham, and the surrounding towns, going back centuries," Hannah said.

"Hannah..." Staci said. "You're serious about this, are you."

"Yes, I am," Hannah replied and continued. "What if I were to tell you that one such incident involved your grandfather, William Clarke."

"My grandfather?" Staci asked.

"Did you ever know him?" Hannah asked.

"No, he died before I was born," Staci replied. "What happened to him?"

"In 1921, when he was a boy, he was kidnapped by Herbert West," Hannah said.

"The guy that used to live in your house?" Staci asked, her eyes going wide.

"Yeah, him," Hannah said. "West kidnapped your grandfather and was going to sacrifice him to some beings West worshipped, called the Old Ones. Ever heard of them?"

"Only stories about them," Staci said and shuddered. "And none of them were pleasant. So West was going to kill my grandfather because he believed in these Old Ones?"

"Yes, but West's assistant, Dan Cain, intervened. He shot West dead and rescued your grandfather. All that happened in our house," Hannah said.

"I never knew that," Staci said slowly.

"Well, your grandfather was unconscious throughout the whole incident," Hannah replied. "He wouldn't have had any first hand memories."

"Hannah, how do you know all this?" Staci asked.

"I wish I could tell you, Staci," Hannah said. "However, the source of that information must remain secret. However, every word I've told you is true, trust me." Hannah looked at Staci and wished she could have told the whole story. The whole story about how the Inner Circle, the group that she and Rex belonged to, that was devoted to stopping the Old Ones, had helped Dan Cain cover up his murder of Herbert West and rescue of the young William Clarke. However, that would have meant telling Staci more than Hannah was willing to reveal, at least at present. _I just hope I haven't said too much already,_ Hannah thought.

"Can't divulge your sources, I guess," Staci said.

"Something like that," Hannah replied. "In fact, Staci, if you could, keep this conversation to yourself. The less people that know about this, the better."

"Hannah, I guess..." Staci paused. "All this is real, isn't it. All the strange stuff that has supposedly happened here in Arkham are not just stories."

"Staci, you don't know that half of it," Hannah said.

 **OOOOOOOO**

 _Nothing!_ Rex Buckland thought in frustration as he tossed a scroll down onto his desk. He was in his study of the house that he and Hannah lived in, a few miles outside of Arkham. For weeks now, Rex had been pouring over his collection of rare books and scrolls, looking for a clue, any clue, that would help him determine just what he and Hannah were supposed to do to stop the Old Ones from escaping their prison. However, so far, he was coming up empty. With a sigh, he picked up yet another scroll. _There must be something in these scrolls. Something..._ Rex's thoughts were interrupted as he heard the front door open. _Hannah must be home._ Seconds later, Hannah entered the study. "Welcome home, Hannah."

"Thanks," Hannah said as she sank into a chair in front of Rex's desk. "How's the research going?"

"Not as well as I had hoped," Rex replied and went on to tell Hannah about his latest dead end.

"I wish I could be of more help," Hannah said. "However, I can't even pronounce half the words in those scrolls and books, let alone understand what they mean."

"Don't worry about that, Hannah," Rex said. "That's my field, after all."

"Rex, something did happen while I was at the Burger Bar," Hannah said and went on to tell Rex about her conversation with Staci. "I told her about what happened to her grandfather, but I kept the Circle's role in the incident out of it. I don't want her getting mixed up in all this."

"Well, I supposed that Staci deserved to know what happened to her grandfather," Rex said. "However, you have to be careful of what you say to her in the future, if you don't want to risk getting her getting more involved in Arkham's dark secrets."

"I know, Rex, and I hate it," Hannah said. "Staci's our friend. She should know about what's been going on around here. Heck, she almost died because of it." The two former Warlocks recalled the incident in which many people in Arkham, Staci included, had fallen victim to a mysterious illness. Turned out that said illness was caused by a meteor from the dark planet, Yuggoth, that had contaminated Arkham's water supply. Rex and Hannah had managed to find a cure for the illness, and everyone, including Staci, had recovered.

"I know how you feel, Hannah," Rex said. "However, even if we did go public and told others, outside the Circle, about what we've found out, where would it get us. Mainstream society tends not to believe in such matters. That's one of the reasons the Inner Circle was formed to begin with, to deal with matters outside of mainstream thinking and concepts."

"And that's what makes it so frustrating," Hannah said.

"Believe me, Hannah, I know."

"Anyway, it's not all bad news," Hannah said as she held up her laptop. "I may have found a lead."

"Really, what is it?" Rex asked.

"Ten years ago, an archeologist attached to Miskatonic University, named Harley Warren, headed off to Greece to prove his theory." Hannah said.

"What theory was that, Hannah?"

"That perhaps the Greek myths were not all just stories. That perhaps some of them were based on fact," Hannah replied.

"Well, many myths and legends are based on fact, if you look deep enough," Rex replied. "Did he prove his theory? I've been working at Miskatonic for months now, and I've never even heard of this Harley Warren chap," Rex said.

"Not surprising. About a year after Warren arrived in Greece, he disappeared," Hannah said. "They searched for him, and found his campsite, in the hills of Greece. However, Warren himself was never found."

"Well, Hannah, I don't know if this is connected with the Old Ones or not, but it does sound odd. Perhaps we should look into it," Rex said. "Ready for a road trip?"

"Yeah, I am," Hannah said. "I found out where Warren had been camped, when he went missing. It was in the remote hills of northeastern Greece, not far from the Bulgarian border. Quite an isolated area."

"Right," Rex said as he rose from his desk and headed out of the study, with Hannah following him. "We'll do a little more research, and then we'll be off."

 _Greece, here we come,_ Hannah thought.

 **OOOOOOOO**

 **GREECE**

 **JUNE 7** **th**

The ruins of a temple dominated the deserted countryside as Rex and Hannah, both with backpacks, arrived and looked around. "According to my research, this was Harley Warren's last known position," Hannah said.

"Well, not much to see here, except these ruins," Rex replied.

"Yes, these were the ruins that Warren was exploring when he disappeared," Hannah said. "According to his last message to Miskatonic, he claimed to have found an entrance to an underground cave. We should look for that."

"Right, let's get started then," Rex said. For the next hour and a half, the two former Warlock combed the ruins.

"Rex, I think I found it!" Hannah suddenly announced. She was standing at the edge of the ruins, looking at a cave entrance that was concealed by heavy vegetation.

"Yes, Hannah, I believe you're right," Rex replied. The two former Warlocks cleared away the vegetation, fully revealing the cave entrance.

"How deep do you think it goes, Rex?" Hannah asked.

"Only one way to find out, Hannah," Rex replied. "Time to go spelunking."

 _Caves,_ Hannah thought as the two former Warlock descended into the cave. _Why is it always caves?_

 **OOOOOOOO**

The cave proved not to be as hard as it first appeared to be. Rex and Hannah found that they were able to fully stand up. Switching on the flashlights that they'd brought along with them, the two of them started down what appeared to be a path. "Rex, doesn't this seem odd to you?" Hannah asked. "I mean this path. Does this look like it was naturally formed?"

"No, Hannah, it doesn't," Rex replied. "It looks like it was made by someone, or something."

"Something? Like what?"

"I hope we don't have to find out, Hannah. Come on let's press on." The two of them continued their trek down the mysterious path, which seemed to be taking them deeper and deeper underground. Soon, Rex accidentally kicked something with his foot. He bent over and picked the object up.

"What have you got there, Rex?"

"I have no idea, Hannah," Rex replied as he turned the object over in his hand. It appeared to be a flat, metal disk, with some kind of writing on it. However, the writing was in a language Rex had never seen before. _Definitely not Ancient Greek, Roman, or any other language associated with this part of the world,_ Rex thought to himself. He showed the disk to Hannah.

"Where did that come from?" Hannah asked.

"I don't know, it was just lying on the ground," Rex said as he continued to examine the disk. "It has some writing on it, but I can't figure out the language. I know all the languages native to this part of the world, past and present, and this is not one of them."

"Could someone else have left it here?" Hannah pondered. "Surely Harley Warren isn't the only one to have been in this cave."

"It's possible, I suppose," Rex replied. "Still, this language on it. I've never seen it before. And the metal the disk is made of, it feels... It feels strange."

"How so?"

"I can't quite explain it, Hannah," Rex said as he slipped the disk into his backpack. "When we get back, I'll give this to the Mineralogy Department at Miskatonic University and let them have a look at it. Perhaps they can sort it out. Let's press on."

 **OOOOOOOO**

The two of them continued on for another two hours, until they made yet another discovery. A stone statue, of what appeared to be an ancient warrior, blocked their path. "Who on Earth put that there?" Hannah exclaimed.

"Indeed, who?" Rex said as he began to examine the statue.

"I don't get it, Rex. Who would go through all the trouble to carve this statue and haul it down here, where no one could possibly see it."

"I don't think this was carved, Hannah."

"Well, if it wasn't carved, then how..." Hannah broke off as she realized just where Rex was going with this. "No, that's not possible. You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

"And what would that be, Hannah?" Rex asked.

"That this statue was once a living man, and he got turned to stone by Medusa," Hannah replied. "That can't be, Rex. Medusa is a myth, she never really existed."

"As I said, Hannah, many myths have their base in fact." Rex indicated the statue. "This poor chap seems to support that idea in this case."

Hannah was baffled. Granted her knowledge of Medusa was more or less limited to the movies _Clash Of The Titans_ and that Percy Jackson one that had come out a while back (in which Uma Thurman had played Medusa, Hannah recalled), but this was something she had never expected to see in real life. "Medusa was real? She really existed?"

"It looks that way," Rex said. "Mind you, this is still conjecture at this point. However, it looks like Harley Warren was right about his theory/ That there was more to the Greek myths than is generally accepted by mainstream historians."

"What about that strange metal disk you found? How does that fit in?"

"Another question to add to the list. Come on, Hannah, we better continue our investigation. That's the only way we're going to get any answers."

 _That's if we want to find them,_ Hannah thought as the two of them made their way past the stone warrior.

 **OOOOOOOO**

As Rex and Hannah moved farther down into the caverns, they came upon more stone statues. "More of Medusa's victims," Hannah said.

"I would assume so," Rex replied. "Although, look at these statues, Hannah. What do they have in common?"

Hannah looked at the statues for a few moments, before it hit her. "They all look like warriors of some kind."

"Yes, and they all look like they were in the middle of an attack when they got turned to stone," Rex replied. "Interesting."

"Well, didn't Perseus behead Medusa? He did so in _Clash Of The Titans_ ," Hannah said.

"According to the myth, yes he did. However, Hannah, I'm getting a strong feeling that those myths never told the whole story."

"What is the whole story?" Hannah asked.

"That, Hannah, is the million dollar question," Rex replied as the two former Warlocks slowly made their way past the stone statues.

 **OOOOOOOO**

It was Hannah that heard it first, a strange humming and clicking. "Rex, do you hear that?" Hannah asked.

"Yes, Hannah, I do hear it," Rex replied. "It sounds like machinery of some kind."

"Machinery? Down here?"

"Yes, it does seem out of place. Come on, Hannah, lets see if we can find it." The two former Warlocks began to follow the strange sounds and soon found themselves in what appeared to be a laboratory of some kind. Strange machines hummed and clicked with flashing lights. Readouts, in a strange language, flashed across screens. Rex took the metal disk out of his backpack and compared the writing on it to that on the readouts. _No doubt about it, the writing is identical. This disk, whatever it is, came from this lab,_ he thought.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," Hannah said as she looked around. "Who's lab is this? How..." she broke off and walked over to a corner of the lab, where the figure of a man stood rock still in what appeared to be a plastic tube of some kind. Hannah quickly recognized him. "Rex, this is Harley Warren!"

"So it is," Rex said.

"Is he dead?" Hannah asked.

"I have no idea," Rex replied. "Still, he's not like those other chaps we saw in the tunnels. He's not stone."

Suddenly, a female voice said from behind them. "No, he is merely in what you would call suspended animation.

Rex and Hannah turned around and saw the figure standing before them. The figure appeared to be a human female, in her thirties, except for her hair, which was made of green tubules that seemed to pulsate.

"Greetings," the female said. "My name is Miduzza. If you're wondering about how you can understand me, I''v been on this planet a long time. My equipment has allowed me to learn all your languages."

 _Makes sense,_ Rex thought. "My name if Rex Buckland and this is Hannah Webster."

"Pleased to meet you," Hannah said. _I think,_ she added in her mind.

"I guess you two are wondering about me," Miduzza said.

 _An understatement if I ever heard one,_ Hannah thought.

"As you can see, I am not native to this planet," Miduzza said. "My home world is, was, called Progone."

"Was?" Rex asked.

"Many thousands of your years ago, Progone was invaded and destroyed by terrible creatures, creatures that one could not even look at for long, without going mad," Miduzza said. "These creatures were immune to all our defenses, including our natural abilities of molecular change. In the end, we had no choice but to flee Progone. Most of my race survived, but we were scattered across the galaxy."

"I'm sorry," Rex said.

"I myself wandered from world to world," Miduzza said. "Until, long ago, I crash landed here on your world. When I tried to seek help from the humans in this area, they attacked me."

 _Because you looked different,_ Hannah thought. _Humans tend to attack first when it comes to things they don't understand._

"I had no choice but to use my powers of molecular change on them to defend myself," Miduzza said.

"You turned them to stone," Rex replied.

"I had to. They would have killed me. I may have a long life span as you humans measure life, but I can die," Miduzza said. "I retreated to these caverns and built this lab with equipment salvaged from my ship. However, those that wanted to kill me still found me on occasions. I had to defend myself."

"Oh, I'm not judging you," Rex said. "I'm just pointing out that your actions started a myth here on Earth. You, Miduzza, became the being called Medusa in those myths. However, it seems that those myths got quite a few things wrong. Such as people turning to stone by looking at your face. That must have crept into the myths to explain the powers you have."

 _So this is Medusa,_ Hannah thought. _An alien refugee. She didn't come here to harm people, her ship crashed here. When the natives saw her, they thought she was a monster and attacked her. She didn't turn them to stone out of malice, but rather out of self defense. Yet the myths that arose painted her as a monster. Talk about bad press._

"Yes, I am aware of the stories that grew around me," Miduzza said.

"What about him?" Rex asked, indicating Harley Warren.

"He came here almost a decade ago, by your time," Miduzza said. "While he meant me no harm, I couldn't risk him exposing me to your world. However, I didn't want to do to him what I had done to those others that wanted to harm me, so I put him into suspended animation instead. I can easily revive him."

"Please do so," Rex requested. "We can convince him to keep your secret."

"Very well," Miduzza said and went over to revive Harley Warren.

"Rex, what she said about those 'terrible creatures' that destroyed her home world, you don't think..."

"That it was the Old Ones," Rex replied. "Yes, Hannah, I do think it was them. She said that looking at those creatures could drive one mad. Sounds like the Old Ones to me."

"I guess her world was not lucky enough to have magical beings looking out for it, like Earth was," Hannah said.

"Depends how you define luck, Hannah," Rex said. "Good and Evil did manage to defeat the Old Ones, but only just. And we knew that Earth was not the first planet that was on their radar. That alternate time line we saw, where Earth was devastated by the Old Ones, that's probably what happened to Miduzza's world."

At that point, Miduzza came back over to the two former Warlocks with the revived Harley Warren beside her.

"Who are you two?" Warren asked Rex and Hannah.

"I'm Rex Buckland, and this is my wife, Hannah Webster," Rex said. "We came here to find you, Professor Warren."

"Even if it is almost a decade later," Hannah added.

"A decade!?" Warren said, his eyes going wide.

"Yes, I was forced to put you into suspended animation when you were determined to expose me to your world," Miduzza said.

"Of course, Medusa," Warren said. "You do exist!"

"Actually, her name is Miduzza, and she's not some mythical creature," Rex said. He went on to tell Warren exactly what Miduzza had told him.

"An alien?" Warren said, once Rex had finished. He turned to Miduzza. "You're an alien?"

"Yes, and I would have told you myself, years ago, had you given me the chance," Miduzza replied. "Instead your mind fixated on the idea that I was the 'Medusa' from your myths. You wouldn't listen to me. That is why I placed you in suspended animation."

"You see, Professor Warren, why you cannot reveal Miduzza's existence to the outside world," Rex said. "You know what would happen to her."

"Yes, I suppose I do," Warren said. "She would be a freak, to be gawked at by scientists and God knows who else. The world is not ready to learn of her, not yet at least." He turned to Miduzza. "Can you forgive me?"

"Yes, I can," Miduzza said. "I trust all of you will keep my secret."

"That's a promise we'll be sure to keep. You have our word on it." Rex said.

 **OOOOOOOO**

 **ARKHAM**

 **JUNE 8** **th**

"So, Harley Warren is alive after all," Randolph Carter said. He, Rex, Hannah, and Warren were standing in the front yard of Rex and Hannah's house.

"Yes, and I trust you'll keep what we've told you a secret, Mr. Carter," Rex said.

"Rex, you know the Inner Circle is good at keeping secrets," Randolph said.

"Tell me this is a joke," Warren said as he stared up from the newspaper he had been reading. "Donald Trump is running for President!? Surely this has to be a joke."

"I wish it was," Hannah replied. "However, it's true. He is running."

"Wow, I have missed a lot," Warren said, shaking his head.

"Well, don't worry about that, Professor Warren," Randolph said. "The Inner Circle will help you find your way around again. Come on, let's go."

"Right," Warren said and turned back to Rex and Hannah. "Thank you both for finding me." With that, Warren and Randolph walked away.

 **OOOOOOOO**

Later that day, Rex and Hannah were at their booth at the Burger Bar. "Well, that was an interesting adventure," Hannah said. "What about Miduzza. Will she be okay?"

"She's managed for thousands of years. I think she'll be fine, as long as no one attacks her, of course," Rex replied.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Hannah said and then turned to her laptop, which she had brought with her. After a moment, she looked up. "Rex, I received a reply to my application to the Miskatonic School Of Journalism."

"Yes, Hannah. And?"

"I got in," Hannah said as she turned the laptop so Rex could see the e-mail she had just received. "I start in the fall."

"Congratulations, Hannah!" Rex said and hugged his wife. "You'll make a great reporter someday!"

"Hey, what's going on over here," Staci asked as she approached Rex and Hannah's booth.

"I got into the Miskatonic School Of Journalism, Staci," Hannah replied and showed Staci the e-mail.

"Well, I think a celebration is in order," Staci said. "We don't serve strong liquor here, of course, but we do have beer. So how about two beers, on the house."

"Staci, that really isn't necessary..." Hannah began.

"Nonsense, I insist," Staci said. "In fact, make that three beers, because I'm joining you. I'll just tell my boss I'm going on a break."

"Staci, won't you get in trouble for this?" Rex asked.

"No, the boss is pretty cool. She'll be okay with this, trust me." With that, Staci headed off to get the beers.

"It's nice to have some good news for a change," Hannah said.

"It sure is, Hannah," Rex replied. "It sure is."

While she was busy getting the beers, Staci was also thinking about Rex and Hannah. Staci's thoughts focused on her conversation with Hannah the other day about Arkham and the mysterious events that the town had experienced in the past. _There is more to Rex and Hannah that meets the eye,_ Staci thought _. I don't know what the mysteries that they're apparently involved in are, but I'm going to find out, one way or another._

 **REX AND HANNAH WILL RETURN!**


End file.
